U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland’s surprise retirement announcement yesterday, in the words of one of the congressman’s aides, “means a variety of candidates will jump into the GOP primary race.” The 65-year-old incumbent from Grantville, who also served as state House legislator from 1993 to 2005, says he wants to spend more time with his family. (Just three months ago, though, he told staffers he would run for re-election.)
His 3rd Congressional District runs from Columbus in the south to the Carrollton area (Carroll County) and Atlanta’s southside suburbs to the north. It is solidly Republican. 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney received 66 percent of the vote; in 2014 there was a 65 percent general election turnout for U.S. Sen. David Perdue and 64 percent voted to re-elect Gov. Nathan Deal.
In the 2012 GOP presidential primary, slightly over half of the district’s total votes came from three counties— the Carroll, Coweta and Fayette portion. (Fayette County is split between Congressional District 3 and Congressional District 13, but it is mostly in 3.) Thus, it is more populated in northern portion of the district. If, for instance, state Sen. Josh McKoon of Columbus were to be a candidate, he’d need a lot more than just the Columbus area to win. A lot of Columbus is not in the 3rd but rather in the 2nd Congressional District represented by U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga.
Who are other potential candidates to replace Westmoreland? State Rep. Matt Ramsey of Peachtree City is one possibility. Another is state Senator Mike Dugan of Carrollton. And there will be other names surfacing in coming days and weeks.
